This application relates to a cooling plate for controlling the flow of air to an air bearing in a compressor.
Compressors are utilized in any number of applications. In one common type, a motor drives a shaft with opposed rotors to rotate.
One use of a compressor is in a nitrogen generation system such as utilized in an aircraft. Nitrogen is separated from air and used for applications such as reducing a risk of flame in a fuel tank.
In a compressor as utilized in a known nitrogen generation system, a single shaft drives two rotor stages, as mentioned above. A first of the rotors compresses the air and delivers it downstream to the second rotor. A portion of the compressed air from one of the rotors is tapped and delivered into a housing to provide air flow to a thrust bearing surface, and then to a radial air bearing surface.
In the prior art, the flow of this air has been relatively unguided.